ICIS Announces Top 100 Chemical Companies Ranking

ICIS has announced its ICIS Top 100 Chemical Companies list, determined by global manufacturers' 2018 sales revenue rankings. Sinopec from China, which reached USD 79.5 billion in sales revenue in 2018 with a 25% increase compared to the previous year, took first place. However, it should be noted that the separation of DowDuPont, which was at the top of last year's list, played a role in this change of leadership. BASF, based in Germany, ranked second in 2018 with USD 71.8 billion in sales revenue. Followed by Dow, based in the United States, in third place with USD 60.3 billion. SABIC, based in Saudi Arabia, ranked fourth with USD 42.2 billion in revenue, and LyondellBasell, based in the United States, ranked fifth with USD 39.0 billion. Joseph Chang, Global Editor of ICIS Chemical Business, stated: "Dynamic changes such as capacity additions, mergers and acquisitions (M&A), divestments and exchange rates played a major role in the ICIS Top 100 Chemical Companies rankings." Sales growth was recorded in 2018, but the US-China trade tensions that emerged in the second half of the year contributed to significant inventory building in the fourth quarter, which made it difficult for this growth to translate into profits. Nigel Davis, ICIS Insight Editor, stated: "Sales growth was certainly healthy, but the average 8% decline in operating profit reflects the margin pressure that many companies faced in the challenging second half of the year." Companies on the ICIS Top 100 Chemical Companies list generated combined sales revenue of USD 1.2 trillion in 2018, showing a 10% increase compared to the previous year. The full list is available on the ICIS website. "ICIS TOP 100 CHEMICAL DISTRIBUTORS 2019" [the_ad id="105219"]